The present invention relates to a furniture frame and particularly but not exclusively to a reclining furniture frame.
Swiss Patent Specification No. 513,624 discloses a reclining furniture frame comprising recessed carriers and cross-battens and in which a mounting consisting of a rigid material is inserted into each recess. The mounting comprises four limbs which together constitute a rectangular frame completely disposed in the interior of the recess. The cross-sectional dimensions of the opening formed by the frame are greater than those of the cross-battens. At least one elestically deformable element is arranged between one of the longer frame limbs and the cross-batten projecting into the frame opening.
With this known reclining furniture frame, sprung movements in the vertical direction as well as pivotal movements of the cross-battens are possible. Since the resilient elements have, however, only a relatively small dimension in the vertical direction and the cross-battens bear directly on the resilient elements, the cross-battens can execute only short movements. Nevertheless, the cross-sectional dimensions of the recesses, especially their height, must inevitably be substantially greater than those of the cross-battens. So that the longitudinal carriers are not excessively weakened by these large recesses, they must, therefore, have a greater minimum thickness measured in the vertical direction than longitudinal carriers in which the cross-battens sit in the recess in known manner without springing. This results in an increase in costs in many cases. For example, in reclining furniture frames pivotable batten gratings are frequently used, in which a part of the cross-battens is held in pivotable struts which make it possible to raise the head and/or the feet of a lying person. These pivotable struts are formed from strips, which are as thin and light as possible to keep the costs and also the weight of the pivotable grating as low as possible. In such reclining furniture frames with pivotable gratings, the aforementioned required increase in the minimum thickness measured in the vertical direction acts particularly disadvantageously.
Swiss Patent Specification No. 388,561 discloses a reclining furniture frame, in which each cross-batten is carried at each end by a rubber-elastic support which is fastened to the inside of a longitudinal carrier. Each elastic support is fastened by means of two spigots which penetrate it underneath the cross-batten. The upper part of the eleastic support is formed to be T-shaped and each cross-batten is provided at its opposite ends with a longitudinal slot so that the end of the batten can be plugged onto the vertical web of the T-shaped upper part. This known reclining furniture frame has the disadvantage that relatively large shear forces can arise in the rubber-elastic support, especially in the region of the spigots carrying it, so that there is a danger that the support may be sheared off or that tears may arise in it. A further disadvantage is that the cross-battens must be provided at their ends with slots, which increases the manufacturing costs. The supports must have a certain minimum height so that good springing results, but the cross-battens must be disposed a little underneath the upper edges of the longitudinal carriers so that the mattress bears not only on the cross-battens, but also by its longitudinal edges on the longitudinal carriers. This requirement stipulates that the height of the longitudinal carriers is at least equal to the height of the rubber-elastic supports. In the case of the pivotably fastened struts, which are customarily used for the non-springing fastening, the height is, however, only just sufficient to ensure there is adequate wall thickness at the recesses. Thus, for this known resilient manner of fastening, too, struts with a larger cross-section must be used than in the case of a non-resilient fastening.
In both the aforementioned known reclining furniture frames, it is not possible to use the same longitudinal carriers for the manufacture of reclining furniture frames with resilient cross-batten mounting as for the manufacture of cheaper constructions in which the cross-battens are plugged directly into the recesses without resilient mounting. Thus, two kinds of longitudinal carriers must be produced and stored, namely those with recesses for the cheaper construction with non-resilient fastenings of the cross-battens and those with other recesses for the more expensive construction with resilient cross-batten fastenings.
The delivery program of a manufacturer normally also comprises other types apart from the resilient and non-resilient cross-batten fastenings. For example, the cross-battens in certain reclining furniture are fastened in the side cheeks, which are immovably connected with the remaining parts of the frame. In other types, the cross-battens are, as already mentioned, held in struts, which are pivotably connected with a fixed frame part of the frame and which make it possible to raise and bear high the head and/or feet of a lying person. In case a variant with resilient and a variant with non-resilient cross-batten fastenings is provided for each of these types of fabrication, an appreciable increase of the fabrication and storage costs results.
An object of the present invention is to create a reclining furniture frame with resilient cross-batten fastening, which makes it possible to avoid the disadvantages of the known constructions.